FLORIDA- A couple from Palm Beach County, according to the prosecution, has entered a guilty plea to charges of being felons in unlawful possession of guns and distributing fentanyl, which caused the death of a 10-month-old girl.
Samantha Yi, 32, entered a guilty plea on Wednesday to the counts of fentanyl distribution conspiracy and distribution of fentanyl that causes death. On July 25, her 31-year-old boyfriend Darnell Mendez entered a guilty plea to the same charges.
The Boynton Beach Police Department, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, and the Drug Enforcement Administration conducted a lengthy cooperative investigation, according to the Department of Justice, into the death of a 10-month-old baby in Boynton Beach who consumed fentanyl.
Cause of death
This investigation culminated in the plea deals. A baby in distress made a 911 call on March 31, 2022, and the PBSO responded. According to investigators, the baby and her mother were brought to Bethesda Hospital East in Boynton Beach.
According to officials, an autopsy performed by the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner revealed that the infant died from homicide and that her cause of death was fentanyl poisoning.
During a homicide investigation, Boynton Beach police found fentanyl at the baby’s residence. Kelly Kirwan, the 32-year-old mother of the infant, was later taken into custody on suspicion of aggravated manslaughter of a child by culpable neglect. To find the drug dealers in charge of distributing the fentanyl that killed the baby, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) entered the inquiry.
Possession of firearms
They found via their research that Mendez, Yi’s boyfriend, was also engaged in the fentanyl distribution business. Investigators discovered that on March 30, 2022, the mother went to Boynton Beach to buy fentanyl, and that infant died as a result of ingesting fentanyl.
Two undercover agents bought fentanyl from Yi and Mendez as part of an operation by the DEA, ATF, Boynton Beach police, and Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. Following an undercover investigation, Yi and Mendez were apprehended on March 6 at their Lake Worth home, where authorities found fourteen weapons.
According to the DOJ, Yi and Mendez acknowledged in their plea deals that they were illegal criminals in possession of firearms. The obligatory minimum jail sentence for both defendants is 20 years, with a maximum sentence of life. Mendez’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for October 29. Yi’s sentencing hearing is not yet set in stone.
